Richest people in Yorkshire: The 100 richest people in Yorkshire with businesses in Leeds, York, Sheffield, Doncaster, Bradford - including Morrisons, Jet2, Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate, DFS and more

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A list of the richest people in Yorkshire has been revealed.

Owners of well-known Yorkshire businesses, such as Morrisons and Jet2, appeared on the list as expected, but a host of new faces, mainly in the manufacturing sector, appeared on this list this year.

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This includes people such as Jackie Neal, one of the few women to have a senior role in the UK’s forging industry. Neal is managing director of Abbey Forged Products, a manufacturer of rings and other metal components for the energy, aerospace and defence industries.

The Yorkshire Rich List 2023. Pictured (from left to right, clockwise) is Lord Kirkham, photographed for The Yorkshire Post by Simon Hulme, Debbie Bestwick MBE, CEO of Team17, and a stock image of Bradford-based Morrisons.The Yorkshire Rich List 2023. Pictured (from left to right, clockwise) is Lord Kirkham, photographed for The Yorkshire Post by Simon Hulme, Debbie Bestwick MBE, CEO of Team17, and a stock image of Bradford-based Morrisons.
The Yorkshire Rich List 2023. Pictured (from left to right, clockwise) is Lord Kirkham, photographed for The Yorkshire Post by Simon Hulme, Debbie Bestwick MBE, CEO of Team17, and a stock image of Bradford-based Morrisons.

It was a similar story at fellow Sheffield business James Durrans Group, which produces iron and steel castings as well as brake components used in millions of cars and trucks. Income more than tripled last year and turnover topped £100m for the first time. This has propelled Christopher Durrans – the fifth generation to run the family-owned business – into the Rich List for the first time.

This is the Yorkshire Rich List 2023 in full:

1 – Malcolm Healey, 79

2023: £1.65bn

2022: £1.6bn

Retail

The kitchen company magnate should have made a decent return earlier this year from selling eBuyer, his electrical goods business. Demand for new PCs, gaming consoles and TVs boomed during the pandemic and his Howden-based internet retailer’s annual sales had risen to £241m ahead of the deal. Offloading eBuyer leaves Healey clear to focus on Wren Kitchens, which has 111 stores.

2 – Lord Kirkham and family, 78

2023: £1.140bn

2022: £1.140bn

Retail

Kirkham set up what would become sofa retailer DFS from an old snooker hall in Doncaster. He made £450m from floating it on the stock market and other share sales during the 1990s. Kirkham then made a further £400m by taking DFS private, and selling to private equit.

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3 – Andrew Shelley, William Morrison and Eleanor Kernighan and family, 62, 47 and 49

2023: £961m

2022: £927m

Supermarkets

Shelley, Morrison and Kernighan are three of the eldest children of the late “king of the tills” Sir Ken Morrison, founder of Morrisons supermarkets. Sir Ken’s offspring have their own businesses, including a farm near Northallerton and holidays lets close to York and on the island of Mallorca.

4 – Carol Healey and family, 77

2023: £886m

2022: £905m

Property

Property developer Eddie Healey teamed up with Paul Sykes to build Sheffield’s Meadowhall shopping centre. Healey, the brother of kitchen tycoon Malcolm Healey, died two years ago. His widow Carol and her family still owns two retail parks.

5 – Paul Sykes, 80

2023: £775m

2022: £775m

Property

Sykes left school without any qualifications and after working as a tyre fitter began making money from car and engine dealing. He later moved into property and he and Eddie Healey sold Sheffield’s Meadowhall shopping centre for £1.17bn.

6 – The Shepherd family

2023: £755m

2022: £479m

Construction

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Don Shepherd ran the Shepherd Group construction company and began focussing on the Portakabin modular building business more than 60 years ago. It now employs 2,260 people across seven European countries. Profits climbed to £73.2m on sales of £393.6m sales in 2022.

7 – John Jakes, 67

2023: £750m

2022: £550m

Stairlifts

Jakes teamed up with Direct Line founder Peter Wood earlier this year to take control of funeral provider Dignity for £281m. Monaco-based Jakes owes his wealth to Steeton’s Acorn Mobility Services.

8 – Philip Meeson, 76

2023: £615m

2022: £589m

Aviation

The former RAF pilot has now stepped down as executive chairman of airline Jet2. The former acrobatics ace transformed the freight carrier into Britain’s biggest seller of package holidays, last year flying 16 million passengers. He and his trust own 20.7 per cent of Jet.com.

9 – Paul and Johnny Caddick and family, 73 and 42

2023: £505m

2022: £335m

Construction

The Caddicks’ Moda Living joint venture has quickly become one of the UK’s biggest build to rent brands, completing more than 2,000 homes. Miner’s son Paul still chairs the Wetherby-based Caddick Group with his son Johnny overseeing Moda. Group profits more than tripled to £58m in 2022.

10 – Jon and Susie Seaton, 40 and 42

2023: £485m

2022: £152m

Teaching aids

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The Seatons earlier this year sold a stake in their teaching aides business Twinkl to private equity for around £170m. Twinkl was set up in 2010 after Susie, who was working as a pre-school teacher, struggled to find educational resources online. Jon, a former property lawyer, has said in the early days of the Sheffield-based business he would get up at 4am to make content. “Then I’d go to work and come back and work until midnight or 1am,” he added. The deal with Vitruvian Partners valued Twinkl at around £500m.

11 – Lawrence Tomlinson and family, 59

2023: £464m

2022: £300m

Care Homes

Tomlinson’s LNT Group has built more than 220 care homes since he took over a care home run by his parents when he was just 23. The main LNT business showed profits of £102.4m in 2021-22.

12 – Steve Parkin, 62

2023: £460m

2022: £450m

Logistics

Parkin banked around £139m from selling his stake in logistics giant Clipper which he had begun as a “man with a van”. Parkin has also done well from property, finance and owns a bloodstock business worth almost £60m.

13 – Roderick Evans and family, 61

2023: £450m

2022: £427m

Property

Leeds-based Evans develops and manages property ranging from hotels and offices to logistics hubs, civic buildings, and university colleges. It typically generates annual rent of more than £25m.

14 – Terry Bramall and family, 80

2023: £428m

2022: £429m

Construction

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Bramall’s fortune stems from the Keepmoat construction company set up by his father. He has reportedly made another “seven-figure” injection into Doncaster Rovers Football Club on top of at least £12.6m he has already poured in.

15 – Frank Hester, 57

2023: £410m

2022: £309m

Software

Hester’s Leeds-based software company The Phoenix Partnership (TPP) is best known for storing 61 million NHS patient records. He recently gave £5m to the Tory party saying he had “never been particularly interested in politics”, but had been swayed by Rishi Sunak’s “passion for using technology”.

16 – John Tordoff and family, 60

2023: £396m

2022: £392m

Car sales

Tordoff is chief executive of JCT 600, the car dealership chain run by his late father Jack for many years. The Bradford-based group sells 24 car brands from more than 50 locations. Profits fell slightly to £43.1m.

17 – Peter Wilkinson, 69

2023: £381m

2022: £379m

Internet

Wilkinson built his fortune by setting up and selling the internet service providers Planet Online and Freeserve. He now owns Inhealthcare, which provides services to NHS trusts, and the 19,000-acre Pennyholme estate, near Helmsley.

18 – John Guthrie and family, 87

2023: £368m

2022: £349m

Property

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The Guthries’ Broadland Properties includes farming and renewable energy as well as commercial, industrial and residential property. The family also own the Kent tourist attraction Hever Castle.

19 – Nick Howarth and family, 66

2023: £355m

2022: £182m

Timber

Howarth runs his family’s Howarth Timber chain of 34 timber and builders’ merchants and can trace its roots back Lincolnshire-based Arbor Forest Products now accounts for nearly half the group’s £337.3m turnover.

20 – Richard Teatum and family, 66

2023: £354m

2022: £171m

Car sales

Teatum’s 64 car dealerships under Stoneacre Group shifted nearly 60,000 vehicles in 2021-22. After profits of £43.2m the Doncaster-based outfit should be worth £350m. He also owned nearly 10 per cent of the collapsed retailer Joules.

21 – Mark Hunter, 61

2023: £351m

2022: £300m

Software

Hunter owns half of craft brewer Ossett Brewery whose sales almost tripled to £19.7m in 2021-22. But the bulk of his wealth stems from IT consultancy BJSS, which he set up with Andrew Vincent 30 years ago.

22 – Andrew Vincent, 67

2023: £339m

2022: £300m

Software

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BJSS now employs more than 2,500 staff and has won contracts with Specsavers and GoCompare as well as the NHS and other parts of the public sector. Profits rose to £56.1m on record sales of £259.9m in 2021-22.

23 – Stephen and Paul Harrison, 54 and 53

2023: £323m

2022: £264m

Construction

The Harrison brothers have paid themselves £14.8m after a record year for their Leeds housebuilder Harron Homes, which the siblings set up in 1992 when they were in their early twenties. It made profits of £40.1m in 2022.

24 – David Hood, 75

2023: £319m

2022: £305m

Electronics and aviation

Hood made most of his money from Shipley-based Pace Micro Technology, a manufacturer of set-top TV boxes. He now owns Multiflight, a helicopter and plane chartering, training and storage business.

25 – Richard Barrett and family, 66

2023: £313m

New entry

Steel

Earlier this year, Barrett took over as chairman at the steel stockholder from his brother James who died following a battle with cancer. Turnover at the sixth-generation family business soared to £617m after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine hiked steel prices.

26 – Chris Rea, 69

2023: £296m

2022: £250m

Engineering

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Rea has invested £13m on 32 robots at his new Rotherham factory to help boost productivity. His AES Engineering makes mechanical seals for several industries. Profits climbed by a third to £48.2m on record sales of £233.8m in 2022.

27 – Danny Sawrij and family, 54

2023: £282m

2022: £280m

Waste services

Sawrij’s Leo Group processes 1.25 million tonnes of animal by-products a year, creating 130,000 tonnes of protein meal and 70 million litres of fats used to make fuel, cosmetics, pet food and chemicals. He also owns a truck and van dealer.

28 – Doug Gregory and family, 83

2023: £273m

2022: £248m

Furniture

Jersey-based Gregory set up furniture maker Symphony 52 years ago. The Barnsley manufacturer makes fitted kitchens, bathrooms, cupboards and other pieces for hotels, developers and other clients.

29 – Dean and Janet Hoyle, 56 and 56

2023: £260m

2022: £304m

Greetings cards

Hoyle has written off £40m owed to him by Huddersfield Town ahead of the football club’s sale to US investors. It’s a hit he can and his wife can take thanks to the success of Card Factory, which they made at least £250m from.

30 – Alexander Marr and family, 53

2023: £245m

2022: £235m

Fishing

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The Hessle-based Andrew Marr International catches, trades, processes, stores and distributes seafood around the UK. There are also operations in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Far East. After profits of £22.3m the company should easily be worth £210m.

31 – James and Luke Smith, 45 and 43

2023: £230m

2022: £200m

Industry

The Smith brothers grew profits at their safety barrier maker A-Safe by nearly 25 per cent to £29.1m last year. The pair’s father David started the Elland-based company as a polythene manufacturer in 1984.

32 – Stuart Moore, 69

2023: £225m

2022: £159m

Building products

Moore runs the Wetherby-based Encon, a supplier of insulation, roof materials and fire protection systems. Record trading has seen profits rise by 50 per cent to £29.4m on sales of £306.4m in 2021-22.

33 – Tony Bramall, 87

2023: £222m

2022: £215m

Car sales

Bramall last year offloaded shares worth £79.5m in Lookers, the stock market-listed car dealer. He bought his Lookers stake for £55m in 2004 and banked £20m from an earlier sale. Property investments are also faring well.

34 – John and Mark Cotton and family, 84 and 47

2023: £221m

2022: £200m

Bedding

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John Cotton took control of his family’s pillow and bedding manufacturer nearly 60 years ago. His son Mark works alongside him at John Cotton Group, which has recently launched a new range with fillings made from 100% recycled materials.

35 – The Marshall Family

2023: £219m

2022: £183m

Property

Elland-based property developer and contractor Marshall CDP was set up by Chris Marshall's great-grandfather at the turn of the 20th century. It bought Manchester’s celebrity favourite Hotel Gotham earlier this year.

36 – Andrew Cawthray and family, 66

2023: £218m

2022: £188m

Drinks

Last year Cawthray sold his soft drinks business Cawingredients to the Austrian owner of Red Bull. He set up his Northallerton-based manufacturer after making around £45m from selling Macaw Soft Drinks in 2005.

37 – Jason and Adam Fuller, 55 and 59

2023: £216m

2022: £228m

Food

The Fuller brothers sold their Leeds-based frozen food empire to their management team last year. Although the terms of the deal were not disclosed, Fullers Foods should have fetched at least £200m.

38 – Nicholas Oughtred and family, 62

2023: £210m

2022: £267m

Food

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Supplying own-brand bread to Co-op stores has helped Oughtred grow sales at William Jackson Food Group by a third to £305.9m. The sixth-generation family business remains loss making though.

39 – The Allam family

2023: £205m

2022: £145m

Industry

Assem Allam, who fled his Egyptian homeland in the late 1960s after suffering torture by Colonel Nasser’s regime, died last year. He made his fortune through his generator business Allam Marine. Control of his £200m businesses empire has now passed to son Ehab.

40 – Malcolm Walker and family, 75

2023: £195m

2022: £211m

Plumbing supplies

The former rugby league professional has earned well from a series of plumbing and bathroom businesses. Sales have fallen slightly to £45.7m at Walker Modular, a supplier to hotels, student flats, prisons and other large buildings.

41 – Chris and Chris Edwards, 73 and 41

2023: £181m

2022: £160m

Discount stores

Turnover at the Edwards’ latest discount retailer One Beyond is growing fast - to £103.5m in 2022-23. Chris Sr set up Poundworld in 1974 from a stall at Wakefield market, later selling it for £150m. Chris Jr also runs online low-cost retailer Gem Imports.

42 – Andrew Thirkill, 64

2023: £180m

2022: £150m

Finance and media

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After working as a bricklayer and as a sales rep for the Yorkshire Post, Thirkill netted a series of payouts from building and selling a series of advertising and media companies. He is now into equity release and runs Age Partnership and Pure Retirement.

43 – Andrew Weaver and family, 50

2023: £173m

2022: £172m

Housebuilding

Weaver took over from his father Irving as owner of Strata this summer. He has worked for the Doncaster business since the late 1990s. Weaver’s great-grandfather set up the firm, which completed nearly 1,000 new homes in 2022-22.

44 – Jonathan and Lesley Wild and family, 71 and 71

2023: £169m

2022: £178m

Tea and coffee

Earlier this year Bettys and Taylors picked up a King’s Award for Enterprise and International Trade. Best known for selling Yorkshire Tea, it has expanded the number of markets it operates in from 28 to 49 in just six years.

45 – Simon Dyson and family, 48

2023: £164m

2022: £134m

Construction

Dyson runs the Grimsby-based housebuilder Cyden Homes. He and his father Geoff founded the business after pocketing £67m from the sale of a similar operation called Chartdale in 2006.

46= Martyn and Paul Carnell, 67 and 69

2023: £160m

2022: £87m

Printing

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Once in car sales, the Carnell brothers now run the fast-growing Bluetree commercial printing group. Turnover soared by more than 75 per cent to £93.9m in 2021-22, partly due to the acquisition of luxury book producer and pandemic demand for surgical masks.

46=Alf and Clare Ellis, 75 and 69

2023: £160m

2022: £122m

Industry

Husband and wife Alf and Clare Ellis founded the Pontefract-based kitchen manufacturer Ultima after a fruitless search for a reasonably priced one of their own. Profits grew by nearly 40 per cent to £25.6m in 2022.

48 – The Bailey family

2023: £158m

2022: £153m

Engineering

Founded more than a century ago, the facilities and infrastructure business NG Bailey landed contracts worth £150m over a single quarter this year. There are now more than 3,000 staff on the payroll.

49=David and Lesley Jackson, 68 and 69

2023: £155m

2022: £140m

Business services

Bridlington-based Hudson Contract provides HR and payroll services for more than 2,600 firms in the construction industry and turns over nearly £1.4bn a year. Jackson has overcome three bouts of cancer.

49=John and Carolyn Radford, 57 and 41

2023: £155m

2022: £189m

Insurance

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Radford has a diverse group of businesses ranging from insurance broking and claims handling to solar energy and property development. He is best known for chairing Mansfield Town Football Club.

51 – The Bond family

2023: £150m

2022: £73m

Tyres

The late Reg Bond was blinded in one eye by a splinter of flying metal while working as an apprentice mechanic. He used £350 of compensation to set up his own car-repair business in Pocklington. Gradually he shifted his company Bond Group towards selling tyres.

52 – Jamie Boot and family, 71

2023: £148m

2022: £200m

Property

Henry Boot has recently sold Banner Cross Hall, its home for more than 90 years. Jamie Boot and his family own nearly half of the company shares and their stake should now be worth £127m though down £52.1m since last year.

53 – Mark Pullan and family, 64

2023: £144m

2022: £122m

Property

Leeds property firm Pullans dates back to 1885. The family-owned company has put together a large portfolio of commercial, industrial and residential sites at Howley Park, Morley and central Leeds.

54 – Peter Smith and family, 74

2023: £143m

2022: £86m

Industry

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Five years ago Peter Smith should have picked up around £60m from selling most of his stake in Cottingham-based Swift Group to management. Swift has been growing quickly and his remaining stake should now be worth £52m.

55 – Jeremy Pilkington and family, 72

2023: £137m

2022: £203m

Plant hire

Pilkington has ruled out selling down his family’s controlling stake in equipment hire business VP. Pilkington’s father and grandfather started their plant-hire outfit in 1954. His family still own 50.3 per cent of the shares.

56 – Duncan Davidson and family, 82

2023: £132m

2022: £167m

Construction

A page boy at Queen Elizabeth’s coronation in 1953, Davidson was working as a labourer on the Blackwall Tunnel nine years later. He would make his fortune from setting up the housebuilder Persimmon.

57=Debbie Bestwick, 53

2023: £130m

2022: £175m

Computer games

Bestwick netted £27m from the float of Wakefield games developer Team 17 and retains a minority stake worth around £100m. She says she hasn’t spent any of her proceeds from the IPO. “Money was never my driver,” she told the FT recently. “I’ve never flown business class... I’ve lived a non-materialistic life.”

57=Brian and Simon Kunz, 87 and 54

2023: £130m

2022: £98m

Property

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The Kunzs’ Batley-based Wharfedale Property has soared in value over the past year. It now owns a three million square foot portfolio. Another six separate companies show assets of £12.2m.

59 – Laurence McDougall, 59

2023: £127m

2022: £105m

Metal trading

McDougall’s Thirsk-based

All Steels Trading has been heavily affected by the war in Ukraine. Higher prices at the start of the invasion later gave way to a slump after Russia began dumping steel on the market and selling to anyone who would buy.

60 – Gareth Williams and family, 59

2023: £126m

2022: £133m

Car sales

Williams is managing director and owner of the Wakefield-based car dealership Hatfields, which sells Jaguars and Landrovers from sites across the North and Midlands. Supply issues have hit profits.

61 – Simon Walton and family, 56

2023: £125m

2022: £94m

Retail

Walton is the fourth generation of his family to run the Leeds-based jewellers Berry’s, which in the last year opened stores in Leeds and Nottingham. Profits rose by 50 per cent to £15.2m on record sales of £73.4m in 2021-22.

62 – Tom and Stephen Martin and family, 87 and 83

2023: £121m

2022: £165m

Safety products

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Tom Martin is life president of Arco, the Hull-based safety clothing and equipment manufacturer. His brother Stephen has worked alongside him for many years. Higher raw material costs have squeezed margins though.

63 – Kevin McCabe and family, 75

2023: £120m

2022: £104m

Property

McCabe’s Scarborough Group has secured planning permission to spruce up Scarborough’s Brunswick Shopping Centre and build a new cinema. The master developer named his company after the town where he lives.

64 – Jonathan Lupton and family, 55

2023: £111m

2022: £80m

Industry

Ripon-based Econ Engineering sells 85 per cent of the road gritters on the roads. It also makes salt spreaders and snowploughs. Profits climbed by more than 70 per cent to £12.3m in 2021-22.

65=Sarah Brignall and family, 64

2023: £109m

2022: £100m

Property

The late Jack Brignall set up property developer Wykeland Group in 1969. The Hull-based operation has developed more than 11 million square feet of commercial space since.

65=Jonathan Turner, 57

2023: £109m

2022: £108m

Energy and industry

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Bayford Group began as a coal merchants founded by demobbed First World War soldiers. Over the years, the Wetherby-based conglomerate has moved into property, hospitality, mining and more recently electric vehicle charging points.

67 – David Kilburn and family, 78

2023: £107m

2022: £103m

Builders merchants

Hull-based building supplies merchant MKM opened its 100th store during 2021-22 and has since added another nine. Kilburn founded the business after being made redundant at the age of 50.

68 – Jonathan Maud, 63

2023: £106m

2022: £93m

Property

Rushbond is a specialist regeneration developer, breathing new life into tired properties and areas. Maud set up and owns the company which shows assets worth £101.1m.

69 – Richard Martin and family, 58

2023: £105m

2022: £104m

Business services

Martin, former managing director at Doncaster car breakers Synetiq, and his brother Dave should have earned around £90m from its sale in 2021. Martin is restoring the 32-bedroom Owston Hall Hotel.

70 – Tim Rix and family, 60

2023: £103m

2022: £91m

Fuel distribution

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JR Rix & Sons has benefited from the rising oil price and the recent staycation boom. Revenues from supplying fuel and shipping jumped by more than 70 per cent and its caravan manufacturer Victory Leisure’s sales more than doubled.

71 – Andrew Major, 61

2023: £101m

New entry

Fertilisers

Major is managing director of Thomas Bell & Sons. The Brigg-based operation specialises in importing fertilisers. The company is best known in farming circles for its Diamond Fertilizer brand. Major owns all of the company.

72 – Sir Bob Murray and family, 77

2023: £100m

2022: £100m

Kitchens and property

Murray started Doncaster-based Omega Kitchens after building up and selling his Spring Ram bathroom group. Profits at Omega’s parent company slipped back to £3.7m in 2022.

73 – Stuart and Jason Paver and family, 62 and 36

2023: £99m

2022: £88m

Shoe retailing

Stuart Paver runs his family’s York-based shoe retailer with his son Jason. Over the past five years the Pavers’ foundation has donated £1.7m to worthy causes, and recently gifted a field hospital to the Ukrainian army.

74 – Mark Waind, 62

2023: £97m

2022: £79m

Engineering

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Waind runs and owns Trackwork, the Doncaster-based group started by his father in 1976. It provides an array of services to the railway industry, ranging from building and maintaining lines, depots and sidings to running safety courses.

75 – Richard Beal and family, 53

2023: £96m

2022: £88m

Housebuilding

Beal Homes moved into a new £5m head office in Hessle this year. Sales rose by 36 per cent to £72.1m in 2022. Profits of £9m suggest the business is easily worth £80m now.

76 – Peter Levine, 67

2023: £95m

2022: £91m

Oil

The Oxford-educated energy veteran owns 29 per cent of listed Leeds-based Molecular and more than 25 per cent of green hydrogen and ammonia producer Atome Energy. But the bulk of Levine’s wealth is from the sale of Imperial Energy.

77= Chris Hopton, 70

2023: £94m

2022: £89m

Timber supplies

Hopton co-founded Lawcris from a two-up, two-down in Wakefield more than 40 years ago. Customers now include furniture makers, shop fitters, caravan manufacturers and exhibition companies.

77=Chris Miller and family, 61

2023: £94m

2022: £73m

Car sales

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Leeds Commercial sells and leases a wide range of vans and trucks and also has depots in Bradford, Barnsley, Sherburn, Manchester and Bristol. Profits climbed to £13m on turnover of nearly £40m in 2021-22.

79 – Martin and Gavin Rae and family, 57 and 54

2023: £93m

2022: £80m

Haircare products

A Love Island sponsorship deal and tie-ups with Boots and Pretty Little Thing have all helped sales of the Cloud Nine’s straighteners and dryers. The Rae brothers’ stepfather, former Vidal Sassoon hairdresser Robert Prowls set up the company.

80=Aiden McManus and family, 47

2023: £92m

2022: £82m

Construction

The Bradford-based civil engineering and construction firm Moortown Group was founded 25 years ago and now employs around 500. McManus’s father named it after the Leeds suburb where he lived.

80=Hamish Ogston, 75

2023: £92m

2022: £135m

Insurance

Ogston made his money from Leeds-based Card Protection Plan (now CPP).

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He is giving £29m to preserve centuries-old crafts, including stonemasonry, carpentry and flint-knapping. The donation will fund up to 2,700 apprenticeships.

82 – Christopher Durrans and family, 63

2023: £90m

New entry

Steel

The 160-year-old Sheffield-based James Durrans Group supplies an array of products, ranging from iron and steel castings to the brake linings and pads used in millions of cars and trucks. Profits rose to £10.8m during 2022.

83 – Nicholas Howard and family, 67

2023: £89m

2022: £84m

Land and art

The 8,800-acre Castle Howard estate, near Malton, features some 200 listed buildings and monuments. Nicholas Howard continues to diversify the estate’s earnings offering camping, holiday cottages and hosting weddings.

84=Ken Davy and family, 80

2023: £85m

2022: £83m

Financial services

Davy set up SimplyBiz (later renamed Fintel) as a provider of software, research and other services to financial advisers. The sale of a previous business DBS, past dividends and share sales should put the Huddersfield Giants owner at around £85m.

84=Jackie and Roger Neal, 73 and 79

2023: £85m

New entry

Steel

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Abbey Forged Products makes a range of rings and other metal components for the defence, aerospace, energy and power industries. Jackie serves is thought to be one of the only women bosses in the UK’s forging industry.

86=Sir Andrew Cook and family, 74

2023: £84m

2022: £83m

Industry

William Cook Holdings made lower profits of £5m in 2021-22. But since then the defence contractor has received a surge of orders connected to the Ukraine war. Sir Andrew was the subject of a book this year Outcast: Cook versus the City.

86=Haroon and Farook Valli and family, 56 and 55

2023: £84m

New entry

Petrol retail

The Valli brothers now have 16 forecourts across England, employing nearly 300 staff and serving 200,000 customers a week. Profits at the Dewsbury-based Valli Forecouts climbed by nearly 70 per cent to £10.8m in 2021-22.

88 – John Whittaker and family, 75

2023: £83m

New entry

Packaging

Whittaker joined his family’s business nearly 60 years ago. Today, Sheard Packaging produces around a million boxes a day. John’s son Roger is now managing director of Sheard. Profits hit £12.7m in 2021-22.

89=Martyn Harrison and family, 64

2023: £80m

2022: £73m

Property

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Stanley Harrison founded his construction firm in 1952. His son Martyn now chairs the York business and has focussed on built-to-rent, student, hotel and office developments.

89=Julian Slater and Elspeth Beynon and family, 62 and 64

2023: £80m

2022: £77m

Construction

Slater is managing director of Plasmor, the UK’s largest independent building and block paving manufacturer. He, his sister Elspeth Beynon and their family trusts own the Knottingley-based firm, started by their ex-RAF father Antony.

91 – Valeria Sykes, 80

2023: £77m

2022: £75m

Property

Sykes spent four years turning 17th century mansion Grantley Hall into the “Ritz of Ripon”, a luxury hotel with five restaurants. Last year a ball attracted Prince Albert II of Monaco and raised nearly £850,000 for charity.

92 – Ian and Brenda Mosey, 74 and 69

2023: £76m

2022: £67m

Livestock and animal feed

Mosey started his agricultural empire more than 40 years ago, initially running a piggery and fattening weaners up for sale. His diverse York-based group now spans pig farming, animal feeds and logistics.

93=Geoff Bloore, 61

2023: £75m

2022: £65m

Car leasing

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Profits at the Leeds-based vehicle leasing and car rental firm Global Autocare climbed by more than half to £22.9m in 2022-23. Private-equity group LDC took a minority stake in 2019, but Bloore still owns more than 25 per cent.

93=Andrew Boyes and family, 76

2023: £75m

New entry

Retail

Boyes chairs his family’s discount retailer, which William Boyes founded in Scarborough in 1881, using the £10 he saved as an apprentice draper. There are now 72 stores in the chain and profits more than doubled to £9.4m in 2021-22.

95 – Daniel Smith and family, 36

2023: £71m

New entry

Steel products

BW Industries has been making steel products for nearly half a century. All of its beams, rails, girders and other wares are made at a 114,000 square foot facility in Bridlington. Profits nearly doubled to £9.8m in 2021-22.

96 – Anthony Brittain, 50

2023: £70m

New entry

Steel products

Brittain runs and owns M.Brittain, the steel stockholding business set up by his late father. Mel Brittain trained as a plumber, initially plying his trade at York racecourse where he could indulge his passion for horses. In 1972 he started his steel venture and used the earnings to build a successful stud and training operation. Mel died in 2015.

97=Dr Mike Lee and family, 76

2023: £69m

2022: £66m

Property

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Former academic Lee launched student accommodation provider Kexgill with properties in Hull. There are now more than 3,000 beds in the UK portfolio and Germany.

97=Murad Patel and family, 66

2023: £69m

New entry

Retail

Patel and his wife Rokaya set up Al-Murad from their home nearly 40 years ago. Their Leeds-based business has become Britain's largest independent importer and retailer of ceramic tiles and natural stone.

97=Peter and Nicholas McVeigh: 85 and 56

2023: £69m

2022: £75m

Lighting

Father and son Peter and Nicholas McVeigh run bulb and lighting manufacturer Status. Peter set up the Birkenshaw-based business in 1991. Status also now makes heaters, radiators, fans and small domestic appliances.

100 – Andrew Lucas, 59

2023: £67m

New entry

Electrical components

Leeds-based IC Blue supplies micro-processors, semiconductors and other parts to the car industry and other clients. A combination of the growth of electric vehicles, shortages of semiconductors and even the US-China trade war has created strong demand.

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